Biodiversity, water and environment  

Restoring our environment and bringing nature into communities is a key part of Willmott Dixon’s sustainability strategy, Now or Never. Our aim is for all our projects to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than before construction. It’s all part of our commitment to do the right thing to support the natural environment and help communities become more resilient to the effects of climate change.

Biodiversity net gain

We continued to focus on biodiversity net gain following the introduction of new legal requirements, which came into effect in February 2024. Under the Environment Act 2021, developers in England are required to deliver a minimum 10% net gain, through on- or offsite mitigation or via biodiversity credits, and maintain it for at least 30 years.

We work with customers to measure and enhance biodiversity on their projects. This includes working with ecologists to make landscaping and planting design changes that support local wildlife and habitats.

We supported our customer Nottingham City Council with delivery of the Broad Marsh Green Heart. This is one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe, transforming the 20-acre site of an old shopping centre into a green space and public realm at the heart of the city.

The project reintroduces the famous ‘marsh’ to the city centre, adding 34 new mature trees with a range of natural spaces carefully planted to provide habitats and food for wildlife throughout the whole year. By prioritising nature and biodiversity, the project achieves a biodiversity net gain of 438%.

We worked with Wiltshire Council to redevelop one of the country's biggest SEND schools - Silverwood School - catering for 350 pupils in primary, secondary and post-16 (below).

Greenery was incorporated throughout the site to deliver extensive ecological enhancements, including improved natural grassland to increase the foraging resource for bats and other species. Hedgerows will be increased by more than 200%, with the project achieving an overall biodiversity net gain of 14%.

Tree Planting

Since 2020, we’ve planted over 42,000 trees, keeping us on course to meet our target of 100,000 trees by 2030.

These trees are planted through a national partnership formed in 2023 with two leading organisations, Green The UK, and The Conservation Volunteers. Each partner will plant 15,000 trees on behalf of Willmott Dixon by 2026.

By the end of the 23/24 planting season, we had planted 12,500 trees. Every tree we plant not only supports our carbon reduction goals, but also enhances biodiversity, protects local habitats, and helps communities become closer to nature and more resilient to the effects of climate change.

Water

Now or Never commits us to halving the volume of water we use on our projects by 2030, from a baseline of 2018. We measure and report the water used on our sites every month, which helps us identify anomalies and opportunity for improvement.

In 2024, we have made good progress, having reduced absolute water usage by 33% compared to our 2018 baseline and our water intensity by 23%.

Water Use